OUR OPEN SPACES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 81, 5 April 1911, Page 9

OUR OPEN SPACES.

SHOULD BE CONSERVED. , WANTED BY THE PUBLIC. IA strong plea for the retention of all '• Auckland's open spaces was made last ' evening by the- president (Mr. W. J. KalphJ of the Citiiens' League, when . speaking at the annual meeting of the —eague;- ; '* -' jj His remarks were occasioned by the publicition-6f"_ Statement from the •Minister for Education (Hon. G. Fowlds), , whoJMj referring-to a site for a university, had said that be could give no de- .,„ finite —formation regarding a. site, beyond the fact' that he understood half the Metropolitan grounds would be , available 'for that purpose. Mr. Ralph contended that they should not tolerate that for one moment. They wanted the ground for -the people to' get a mouth of fresh air. It was almost opposite the "; Albert Park, and ali that was necessary was the putting lip of a gate opposite the park to throw it open to the public. If thjipiaee was lost there would never he a'Site to' replace it. It behoved the Ctizefis' League to say "hands off" to ;. any proposal to take up the open spaces lin the City. Auckland now bad a popu- .: lationi Of 101,000, and in ten years they ' were go.ing to double the population. Population was flowing to New Zealand , fromjall parts of the world, and more £ partiiiiia rly to the North, this even , - -being noticeable from the South Island, •;. where.the people were recognising that ;j it wis easier .to get on the land here. Tie ifenuining Crown lands and lockednp native lands were nearly all in the North Island, and Auckland was going to get tj>e benefit of these, consequently the trend Of population must be in this direction, and it was necessary to con--4 serve any areas they had as breathing space! lor the people. The remarks met with the hearty ap"s proval of all present.